I'm new to the forum and wanted to stop by and say hi after deciding to finally "go for it" and build a couple boats that I've always wanted to do. i have decided that the first one will be a jet TNT (because i think it'd be a great first build experience and it puts me in the mind of a water-bound go-kart which should be a blast!). I received the patterns and plans a couple weeks ago and i'm currently eyeball-deep in the modification planning stage. I'm really glad that the forum has this jet ski power section and I've already gotten some really good ideas from all the great projects on here.
Thanks!

Well, I have a good idea on what I want to have as a finished boat with the TNT and I've made some preliminary drawings of the concept if anyone is interested. Let me know what you think? I have a pretty complete bill of materials done up and also started the parts collecting process by finding a Yamaha GP1200 aluminum jet pump intake duct and grate to modify the heck out of and adapt the pump to for the little beast because I didn't want to graft the bottom of a jet ski into the boat. Next up looks like getting my hands on the powertrain so I can get it modified and mock it up to get all the dimensions correct and tweak the plans as necessary. Right now it looks like I might be making a trip to Fargo, ND from Michigan in the next couple weeks to get the Honda R12X that I want to power this thing, then it's on to Johnson's Workbench over here in Charlotte, MI to pick up the African Mahogany and Hydrotek to get this party really started!! It's nice that Johnson's is only 45 minutes from home and I've never even heard of them before starting the project....

Should be a fun build!! See if Chris can get you some Philippine mahogany. It's nicer to work with and a bit lighter. Sometimes he has it in stock. Johnsons is a great place to deal and you will get quality products.

Hi Gayle and Roberta, thanks for stopping by
I've been building cars for years but I've been wanting to build a couple boats for a long time and have finally found the opportunity to make it happen. I'm more than a little excited about it!
So Chris is the guy to see at Johnson's Roberta? Very good to know. With your experience and craftsmanship building boats (I can only hope mine turns out half as nice as yours), a thumbs up from you means a lot and gives me confidence in who I'm dealing with.
And Gayle, thank you so much for continuing with a company that is probably the most customer focused of any I've ever had the pleasure of doing business with!!

Hi Gary. Thanks for stopping by. I didn't know what the Alpha Z was so I googled it......... Holy Mahogany Batman!!! Very impressive! I'm not into the superboats but if I was that would have to be the Holy grail. I'm sure the price tag would reflect that too LOL. I think I'll have less money into this TNT than that steering wheel costs
Thanks for the kind words and I'll make sure to post pics as I go along.

Ha ha - I know what you mean. Van Dam boats are something else, but I recon that by tweaking some of Glen-L's designs, you could get 80% of the boat for about 10% of the money - That's what I'm hoping anyway, Haha.

Gary

Planning a whole fleet, but starting with a Zip...I think.

"Just when you think you've made something idiot-proof, someone builds a better idiot!"

Amen Gary! I'm really thinking that building your own boat is the only way to go. You can own the perfect boat for you, not someone else's idea of the perfect boat for you. The bonus is that no one else will have one exactly like yours and the looks on people's faces when you tell them you built it yourself is the cherry on the Sunday

Well, I picked up the next piece of the puzzle today. A 57 lb. Chunk of 6061 aluminum. Hard to imagine that by the time I get done on the Fadal the resulting mount flange/pump adapter for the intake will weight about 5 lbs. The nice thing is that I'll have enough left over to fab a lot of the smaller items such as the intake fins, cavitation plate turnbuckle mounts, adjustable ride plate bracket for the pump, miscellaneous hardware, even a nice billet "oh crap" handle for the passenger side of the dash
I was going to wait on the lumber until I had the ski powertrain in hand but I don't think I can wait until then.....

Hi all. I got the chance to take myself and the kids over to Johnson's Workbench in Charlotte, MI yesterday to see what they had for random and check out the Hydrotek so I can finalize my materials list. What a cool place! Very nice products and all the people there were just great to deal with. The prices were more than competitive and I will follow Roberta and definitely recommend them as a supplier at least for the lumber. My 16 year old son and 9 year old daughter had a blast looking at everything. My son Daniel (who has been playing guitar for 6-7 years) even caught sight of some Purpleheart in one of the warehouses and now he's asking for my help to build an electric guitar using that as the body. I told him only if he helps me with the TNT in trade. He's all for it
What a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon !!

Hi everyone, I guess it's time for an update on the TNT.....
After 3 months scouring through salvage auctions, eBay, Craigslist and anywhere else I could look, I just made a 1062- mile round trip to Nashville TN yesterday to pick up the next piece of the puzzle!
A wrecked 2004 Honda R12X Aquatrax with only 66 hrs. on it for the engine and pump to power the little beast. I peeled it apart to inspect the powertrain and everything is in perfect condition, the hoses look and feel brand new and the pump impeller looks brand new with no dings or other marks on it.
The engine and pump turn over by hand but since it was a wreck i'll get it running and check everything over before I tear it apart. I started measuring the best I could with it together and with the drive extension for the pump that I added to the transom, it looks like I won't even have to shorten the impeller shaft for the powertrain to fit (YAY!!!)
So after I pull it apart and finalize the dimensions for the build, I'll be headed back to Johnson's Workbench for the wood,get the SB fasteners and epoxy and start building!!
Oh yeah, and I'm a couple pieces shy of having a vacuum-bag setup going also!
Here's a few pics of the victim of my evil plan......

Hi there. I finally found the time to get the ski running!
Changed oil and filter, flushed the fuel system, checked the turbo, etc. The original battery even took a charge. Then the moment of truth......
The darn thing fired right up on the first revolution and settled down into probably the coolest sounding idle I've ever heard from a 4 cylinder engine with a bit of a "big cam" lope and you can even hear a little turbo whistle. It sounds really good. Touching the throttle, my first thought was "oh boy, this is going to get VERY interesting......". The throttle response is simply insane! Granted, there's no load from the pump, but this thing will go from idle to 6 grand and back to idle in literally 1 second!!
Holy smokes! I've never really messed with jet skis and didn't have any idea what to expect, but I wasn't expecting that!
This is going to be a whole lot of fun!!!!

Thanks for stopping by
Dave

Last edited by DSR on Fri Nov 04, 2016 2:50 pm, edited 3 times in total.